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Today I will write about a person I admire and whose story is inspiring. One guy who inspires me nowadays is George Wachiuri who runs Optiven enterprise Limited, one of the Kenya’s most success small and medium enterprises. I met him once when I was working as a salesperson. He also happened to have addressed us when I was in Jomo Kenyatta University having been invited by the University’s Christian Union. I mostly admire his Christian values. In Kenya which is one of the most corrupt countries in the globe, having a honest business person is very difficult and rare. So, when you find such a person you must admire him for his outstanding character against all odds. George Wachiuri runs Optiven enterprise a real estate company that sell develops and sells land property. If you want to invest in real estate in Kenya, Optiven is the company of choice. In country where more than dozen real estate companies are briefcase companies with reputation of selling illegal parcels of land, Optiven is the company to buy from a clean piece of real estate. Their value addition services also make it ideal for speculators to purchase for the company.
You can read more about George at: http://www.georgewachiuri.com/
You can also read more about Optiven at: http://www.optiven.co.ke/

2015 is year now here with us and the first month is almost over. Resolutions have now been made by those who make them (I am not among them) and now the year is on top gear. Some like me are discouraged by previous unaccomplished resolutions they made in the previous years and therefore are not making any new resolutions. I have seen that every year has got its own share of hurts, discouragements, pain, losses, gains, favour as well as high and low moments. Let me call those bad times as giants. With all the giants around it becomes difficult to feel accomplished especially when seeking to accomplish anything new and profound. Whenever, I compare what I desire to achieve by focusing on what I have, I usually feel low and deprived as I may not have enough to do it. I am however comfortable with having enough to survive and live day to day.
Sometimes I do ponder and ask what it takes to achieve. Everyone was made to be an achiever and do extra ordinary things yet sometimes even doing the ordinary is challenging. Now why does God entrust us to do those extraordinary things yet we have little in our hands? God’s purpose and vision for me is usually larger than our self-sufficiency. Just like the way God of Israel commanded them to face of giants and evict them from land of Canaan yet the inhabitants of Canaan were giantsin Numbers 13:33 ‘And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim); and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”(RSV),. God sometimes commands us to face off with giants. Our positions in God and God expectation on us are sometimes way too far from our wildest imaginations. Yet we are expected to act and deliver if we are to please him. Like the ten spies who saw themselves as grasshoppers before the giants, sometimes one can feel like a grasshopper when comparing oneself with the dictates of circumstances.
In the midst of all those giants, God expects us to be victorious. The mistake that I always do and you may have done it is comparing the challenge with myself. Indeed I am smaller compare with the challenge, yet the challenge is minute compared with God. God gives us those challenges because He expects us to compare the challenges with Him and hence see Him fighting for us. This is what David in the bible did, he did not compare the Goliath with himself, he compared Goliath with God of Israel and with that mentality, David knew that Goliath was nothing compared to God. 1 Samuel 17:45 ‘Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied’(RSV). This year, I may have resolution now not because there will be no challenges but because the challenges are minute compared with my Big God. I am now seeing the invisible one behind me and fighting for me. Now it no longer depends with my strength but with the strength of God at work in me.
My dear readers have a great year aware that God expects you to accomplish more than you have planned. See Him behind you. Amen

Writing is like a battle. I take writing as a war and strategize about it the same way lieutenants in a battle filed would do. Just like battlefront, writing industry has many casualties and has killed the passion of many great writers. Writing is not for everyone I can affirm, it mainly favours those who take it as a fight and battle diligently, courageously and consistently. The following are battles that every writer must fight.

The battle for self-belief. It is the belief that you can do it whether you feel like it or not. Writing industry has no masters or experts. The first step is accepting that you can do it and then doing it. Believe that you are the best and you have what it takes.

The battle of Reading. Great writers are also great readers. You cannot effectively write if you fail to read. The main aim of writing is to inform. You must be well versed with what you are informing others about. This is done by thorough reading. Reading widely and wildly is the true mark of a great writer. Great readers have a lot to inform others. They have more knowledge that would interest others to read.

The battle of fear of criticism. Even with your self-belief, self-doubt and criticism from clients and readers usually tend to put writers down. Writing is tedious and not exciting especially when writing for clients. To be a great writer one must possess a thick skin and ability to overcome criticisms. Once the writer has acquired a can do it attitude, the writer can pen about any subject whether they are experts in it or not. However, it is much easier to write a topic which you are most conversant with.

The battle of words. Sometimes one falls short of words and topics to write about. Every writer experiences writer’s block, when there are no forthcoming ideas or inspiration to write. It is the writers’ responsibility to be inspired and motivated. Sometimes I have to listen to music or just write blank words for me to overcome this challenge. I must admit that writer’s block is every writer’s nightmare. It comes with inability write and lack of inspiration to write. Write even when you do not feel like it. Feelings will come later.

The battle of relevance. In the process of writing, sometimes a writer may write materials which are irrelevant and out of sync with the topic of discussion. The writer must always seek to remain relevant and fluent in writing so as to make the readers understand the subject matter with ease.

The battle of grammar. Grammatical mistakes are not taken lightly by readers. They consider them as a mark of incompetence. I may not be an expert about grammar since English is not my first language, but proofreading and re reading the material at least two times helps in eliminating such mistakes.

The above battles are not one off battles; they must be fought consistently, simultaneously and confidently.

One day I borrowed some small amount from a friend to start a business from a friend. From my estimation I was certain that I would make some good money if it happened to succeed. I labored and worked to profit but unfortunately the returns were very minimal than I had anticipated. I did not even accumulate enough money to pay myself. This is in consideration that the money I had used was borrowed. The friend I had borrowed money came to demand his share. I had to explain that I had no returns from the investment and that I was dead broke to repay his money on the agreed date. My good friend would hear none of it, the money I had borrowed was intended to pay his sister’s school fees and had diverted it to assist me. I had to repay the money, by nook or crook. Luckily, I didn’t have any tangible assets to be auctioned except a smart phone which I had bought earlier on. I had to auction it to pay a part of the debt and pacify my friend’s wrath. I could not imagine that a good friend could be so harsh to me. My friend still demanded me to pay the debt in full if I was ever to make peace with him. Having no assets and no sustainable form of employment I could not access any formal credit neither could I do anything to fully settle the debt. Never in my life have I felt so low and ashamed like at that time. My dignity and sense of self-worth was highly diminished by this incident. I had to labour and do anything within my ability to settle the debt. I used every resource and ability within my disposal to settle the debt without incurring any further debt. I painfully repaid the money with tears but the lesson I learnt will last a lifetime.
Since the occurrence of this incident, I learnt a major lesson that debt is an enemy. In twenty first century many people have indeed fallen in love with their enemy. Our countries, nations and government too have fallen in love with the enemy called debt. At first debt appears like a friend in need who comes on time to help. The pleasure of having access to free money and gratifying one’s desires instantly without sweat but based on your ability to repay makes many people feel good. They count on debt to fund their luxuries, lifestyle and necessities. There are even cases of people who have succeeded using loans and setting successful businesses. Almost all banks and financial institutions consider loans as their major source of income and fiercely advertise how they have the best repayment terms. Nations especially in third world countries count on debt to build their infrastructure and pay their workers. In other words the world is becoming driven by debt.

However, debt irrespective the name used to refer to it is never a friend. It is a foe who should be fought off with determination and dedication that one can expedite when fighting a cruel enemy. Debt is the modern day tool of enslavement and financial inequity. You cannot succeed on debt. Debt is a cunning enemy who allures the prey with fantasy and instant gratification but strikes when least expected without mercy. Sometimes I wonder what would happen in the world if the same effort put in repaying debt is put in accumulation of wealth, good relationships and integrity. Debts steal ones dignity, sense of self-worth and make the person with debts a modern day slave. There are many people whose only motivation to wake up is the mortgage or car loan. I have identified companies that thrive on debt instruments. To speak the truth there are slave institutions, companies, businesses and countries, whose management work hard to please and pay the master creditors. Treat all manner of debts like an enemy and with the suspicion it deserves. When you realize that debt is an enemy who seeks to disempower you and take away your purpose, sense of self-worth and dignity you will slowly but certainly pay all debts and keep them off. May you succeed in fighting this enemy. May Heaven grant you the wisdom to be content, patient and delay gratification.

I have been reading the works of George Clason ‘The richest man who lived in Babylon’. I do not intend to write a review about it but I must indicate that it is a classical of financial wisdom. The ideals conveyed in the book are as applicable to the Gen Y as it was applicable to the baby boomers and those who lived in nineteenth century. One aspect that caught my attention and left me meditating is a discourse on making work a friend. The book identified that work should be viewed as a friend and not an enemy.
Many young persons of our generation have described work as an enemy and work because it is necessary to pay their bills. Work does more to your life than paying bills, it is the very essence of living. Life would be very boring without work, or engagements that ensure that our mind, bodies are put into use. Work therefore puts the creative energies and potential in to use hence ensuring that life is meaningful and interesting. Idling and lazing around makes life uninteresting and makes one suffer from want and ill health. Out of personal experience, I can say that work whether mental or physical has rewards and should be taken positively.
Einstein, one of the geniuses that have lived on earth disputed that he was a genius and said that genius is one percent luck and ninety nine per-cent perspiration. Effort and energies must be spent and spent in right courses even though they may not have direct reward; eventually every labour has a profit in it. One of the major causes of unemployment in third world countries is not lack of education or skills; it is idling, and failure to work. Work is not having a job as many people would want us to believe or being employed by someone. Modern day thinking considers work as any effort that earns money. However, work is not only any effort that earns money, but rather any effort undertaken with diligence and thoughtfulness. The bible commends work and notes that ‘In all labour there is profit.’ Proverbs 14:23. Therefore one should not be afraid or ashamed of working and using energies to do what is right and doing it diligently, whether it pays immediately or not. This understanding helps one to put out efforts in the right pursuits with diligence and it guarantees that that all manner of work will have rewards.

Ever since the engagement, many people have asked me questions about my relationship and the most prevalent one is “how long did you guys date?” The truth is we never did. He never asked me to be his girlfriend. He never asked me out on a solo date. We never even kissed. For as long as I’ve known him we were just friends… Friends that valued each other, prayed for one another, and wanted to see each other succeed in every area of life.

Now within this friendship, I admit, there were times when I looked at him like “Dang, he’s cute” or “I really admire this about him” or “I would love for my mate to have some of his qualities” but honestly there were A LOT of guys that I would say the very same thing about! Soon enough, I learned how to categorize the guys in my life by placing…

Pillars of long lasting relationship (Part one): COMMITMENT I have realized that no sooner than I think that I have met a great person that I can settle down with, a new exciting person appears who is better or more beautiful than the one I had seen. I start seeing weaknesses of my great person and they suddenly become familiar while the new person becomes exciting to be with. Unfortunately once I have become close to them then I realize that a better person than them exists and I cannot withstand their presence anymore and the cycle continues. This led to me to be inquisitive about great couples who have stayed with each other for more than twenty five years. How have they overcome familiarity and weaknesses of each other and remained together for years. Great relationships take great work. The just do not happen. In my case studies on couples who have been married for more than twenty five years, there were some outstanding traits which were present in all those relationships. These traits are the values which have kept them glued to one another for such a prolonged time. In this article the focus will be one of the trait present in those great relationships. The trait which was amazing was the sense of commitment that the couples had towards each other. As a young person aspiring to have and be in a great relationship that will lead into marriage and not just marriage but marriage that lasts until death do us part, I have great interest in having a successful relationship. I therefore embrace don a journey to identify the values or pillars which held couples together till death separated them. Some of the relationship values which were upheld by this values included openness, trust, commitment, sense of gratitude and common interests. In this article I will share about commitment and later discuss other traits in subsequent articles. Commitment is defined as an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action. Commitment is therefore dedication to a cause which comes with restrictions from pursuing other courses. In other words a committed person has chance and opportunities to be pursue and be engaged to other courses pursuits and objectives but makes a rational decision to pursue only one course of action. In relationships commitment can be seen as the ability or the choice/decision to restrict oneself to focus on and love and share affection with one person despite having opportunity to share life, affection and love with as many people as they are available. Commitment is a sense of self denial and self-regulation to love one person through thick and thin or for better and for worse. It is loving one person even when you know all their weaknesses. Commitment in relationship is loving that one person even when you do not feel like it. According to Dr. Gonye, a marriage counsellor based in Thika, Kenya, commitment to marriage is unique because it is a lifetime commitment unlike in other settings where it can be contractual. ‘Commitment takes more than just feelings as your mind, body and soul must be involved in commitment. Initially commitment in relationships is not easy but it eventually becomes automatic after continually deciding to commit.’ Commitment is very fulfilling as it provides a sense of security to the relationships and builds strong ties that last.’ Dr. Gonye says. There is no great feeling of fulfilment than knowing that someone you love is by your side when you are at your lowest moment. The bad feelings that coming from familiarity are common in all relationships, it how you choose to handle them that determines whether you are committed or not. Every relationship must therefore be tested to determine whether there was commitment or not and relationships based on convenience do not withstand the test of commitment. This ingredient is not present in many relationships yet it is vital to the growth of any meaningful and fulfilling relationship. Decide to commit to that one person for better and for worse. You can read more about pillars of long lasting relationships from my book co-written with a friend entitled ‘So You Want to Get Into Courtship.’ You can get it from all bookshops in Kenya or write us an emails at courtshipbooks@gmail.com, and we will deliver it to you wherever you are. You can also like our facebook page for relationship quotes; https://www.facebook.com/pages/So-You-Want-To-Get-Into-Courtship/249854101696789?ref=hl